The present invention relates to antibodies, including specified portions or variants, specific for at least one Dengue virus NS protein or fragment thereof, as well as nucleic acids encoding such anti-Dengue virus antibodies, complementary nucleic acids, vectors, host cells, and methods of making and using thereof, including therapeutic formulations, administration and devices.
Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are caused by one of four closely related, but antigenically distinct, virus serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4), of the genus Flavivirus. Infection with one of these serotypes does not provide cross-protective immunity, so persons living in a dengue-endemic area can have at least four dengue infections during their lifetimes. Dengue is primarily a disease of the tropics, and the viruses that cause it are maintained in a cycle that involves humans and Aedes aegypti, a domestic, day-biting mosquito that prefers to feed on humans. Infection with dengue viruses produces a spectrum of clinical illness ranging from a nonspecific viral syndrome to severe and fatal hemorrhagic disease. Important risk factors for DHF include the strain and serotype of the infecting virus, as well as the age, immune status, and genetic predisposition of the patient.
Dengue may be the most important mosquito-borne viral disease-affecting humans; its global distribution is comparable to that of malaria, and an estimated 2.5 billion people live in areas at risk for epidemic transmission. Each year, tens of millions of cases of dengue fever occur and, depending on the year, up to hundreds of thousands of cases of DHF. The case-fatality rate of DHF in most countries is about 5%; most fatal cases are among children and young adults.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide new therapeutic, prophylactic and diagnostic agents against Dengue virus. Anti-Dengue virus antibodies or fragments of the present invention provide new therapeutic and/or prophylactic agents to treat and/or prevent Dengue virus infection and its associated diseases. The anti-Dengue virus antibodies and fragments of the present invention also provide diagnostic reagents for detecting infection or epidemiological investigation in the population.